Apparatus for the automatic continuous manufacture of filled and closed containers

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for the automatic continuous production of filled and sealed containers formed by hollow bodies of thermoplastic material inserted in a mold in moldable condition, which bodies are expanded by the pressure filling method and filled, thereafter sealed and removed from the mold, which comprises at least one tube extruder rotatable about a vertical axis. A plurality of stationary working stations each with molding units and transportation devices, are provided. A rotary carrier is rotatably mounted about its vertical axis and includes at least two arms set off relative to each other and projecting beyond the working stations. The devices and parts thereof, respectively, at least for molding, filling and sealing, cooperate with the molding units, in accordance with the working succession, and are disposed in the arms.

0 United States Patent 1 3,694,126 Pechthold 1 Sept. 26, 1972 APPARATUSFOR THE AUTOMATIC 3,1 17,348 1/1964 Rees 18/30 .lA UX CONTINUOUSMANUFACTURE OF 2,290,129 7/1942 Moreland et a1. ..18/20 H X FILLED ANDCLOSED CONTAINERS 3,100,913 8/ 1963 De Matteo ..18/20 8' [72] lnventor:Heinz Pechthold, Walldurn, Ger- FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS many732,103 4/1966 Canada ..18/5 BP [73] Assignee: Etablissement Bonatex,Vaduz,

Liechtenstein Primary Examiner-J. Spencer Overholser AssistantExaminer-Michael 0. Sutton i l N :23; 1970 Attorney-Ernest G. Montague[57] ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data An apparatus forthe automatic continuous production of filled and sealed containersformed by hollow May I969 Germany 19 23 6909 bodies of thermoplasticmaterial inserted in a mold in moldable condition, which bodies areexpanded by the [52] US. Cl. ..425/326,4422550136957,442255148;ipressure fining method and fined, thereafter Sealed and removed from themold, which comprises at least [51] Int. Cl. ..B29d 23/03, 82% 17/00 t bt d r tat bl ab t ve tical an A [58] Field of Search ..18/5 BF, 5 BP, 5BM, 5 BE, f {i e a g h 18/5 BS, 5 nos BR, 20 B, 30 JA, 30 PA Y S a S eacmolding units and transportation devices, are provided. A rotary carrieris rotatably mounted about its [56] References Cited vertical axis andincludes at least two arms set off rela- UNITED STATES PATENTS tive toeach other and projecting beyond the working stations. The devices andparts thereof, respectively, 3,355,763 12/1967 W1llert ..18/5 BP atleast for molding fil i and li cooperate with 3,357,046 12/1967Pechthold ..18/5 BF the molding units, i accordance with the working g 43 succession, and are disposed in the arms. agen 3,415,915 12/ 1968Leclxyse et a1 ..18/5 BP X I 8 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP26i972 3,694,126

SHEET 1 BF 3 PATENTEDsmzs m2 SHEET 2 [IF 3 APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATICCONTINUOUS MANUFACTURE OF FILLED AND CLOSED CONTAINERS The presentinvention relates to an apparatus for the automatic continuousmanufacture of filled and closed containers of thermoplastic material bythe method of filling under pressure. The apparatus is particularlyadapted for the manufacture of containers of all kinds, as for examplebottles, cans,canisters, ampules, tubes etc., also for containers havinglarge dimensions, from a 'hollow body enclosed in moldable condition ina mold and made of thermoplastic material, which is expanded in a singleoperation, substantially by charging of the filling material, the hollowbody being urged against and formed on the walls of the hollow space ofthe mold, whereupon the container thus formed and filled is closed andremoved from the mold.

The principles of the compression filling method for the manufacture ofcontainers of the said type are nowadays thoroughly familiar to the manskilled in the art. They are described, e.g., in the French Pat.specification No. 1,338,656. It was, however, not possible up to now toattain a great number of units or an efficient manufacturing speed witha single machine, since the individual process steps require a certaintime. In order to remedy this condition, apparatus was already proposed,with which one or several stationary plastification units were provided,to which periodically individual working stages, consisting of molding,filling and closing units are supplied. Although the attained number ofmanufactured pieces could be substantially increased, the apparatus wasnot completely satisfactory, since it required considerable space andwas subject to breakdowns owing to its relatively complicated mechanicalstructure. Thus, upon failure of a single operating station, forexample,'the whole machine had to be stopped. A'lso considerable energywas required to accelerate or to brake the traveling working stages.

In the US. Pat. No. 3,357,046 of the same inventor,

dated Dec. 12, 1967, which constitutes part of the disclosure of thepresent invention, an apparatus is disclosed, with which theaboveoutlined deficiencies are at least partly eliminated.

The mentioned prior patent discloses also the provision of apparatus-ofcompact structure, short switching times between the successiveoperations and sufficient operating time for the forming, filling andclosure of the manufactured containers.

The prior patent also includes the provision of apparatus having a highproduction capacity and producing even voluminous hollow bodiesrationally and cheaply, and to mold, fill and close the containers in asingle operation.

The mentioned patent teaches further the provision of a plurality ofstationary working stages each including molding, filling and closingunits are disposed around a tube extruder rotatably mounted on avertical axis, said working stages including severing and holding meansfor receiving and transporting severed sections of the extruded tubeinto the molding unit.

In apparatus set forth above, a high output is required, which requiresin particular in machines for the production of voluminous containersapparatus which is technically and spatially voluminous.

The above-stated prior US. Pat. No. 3,357,046 teaches the arrangement ofan apparatus which, compared with the previously known apparatus, makespossible with a lesser disturbance expectation the production of greaternumbers per time unit of voluminous hollow bodies and of containers,respectively, in a rational and economical manner in one working step.

In said prior patent, this object was obtained such,

that stationary molding-, fillingand sealing-units, disposed in workingstations, are arranged about a tube extruder rotatably driven aboutavertical axis and for the removal and for the production of sections ofthe extruded tube into the mold, transportation units equipped withsevering and molding devices are provided.

It is one object of the present invention to provide an apparatus forthe automatic continuous manufacture of filled and closed containers,wherein a rotary carrier rotatably-mounted about its vertical axis hasat least two arms projecting beyond the working stations and set-offrelative to each other in a horizontal plane, in which, in accordancewith the working succession the devices and the parts thereof,respectively, for forming, filling, sealing and, under circumstances,for removing of the containers are provided which cooperate with themolding units.

By .this arrangement, it is brought about, that even then, when for theobtaining of very high numbers of pieces, an apparatus is equipped witha great number of working stations, a great part of the apparatuselements has to be inserted in a simple structure in and on,respectively, the rotary carrier and its arms, which arrangementsimplifies and economizes essentially the machine. Furthermore, by thearrangement of the present invention appreciable space is saved, inparticular in the individual working stations.

With this and other objects in view, which will become apparent in thefollowing detailed description,

the present invention, which is disclosed by example only, will beclearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. -1 is a schematicelevation of an apparatus having four workingstations and a rotary carrier with four arms disposed at an equalheight, of which each pair of adjacent arms is set-off relative to eachother for an angle of FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatusdisclosed in FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 ata reduced scale;

FIGS. 4-7 are schematic showings of a drive for a conveyer banddisclosed in different working positions;

purpose of a better demonstration, their showing hasbeen omitted. 7

On the rotary carrier 51 are provided four arms 57, 58, 59 and 60extendingbeyond the working stations 52, 53, 54 and 55', which arms 57,58, 59 and 60 are set off in a horizontal plane with equal anglesrelative to each other, that means each arm is set off to its adjacentarm at an angle of 90. The first arm 57 constitutes the extruder arm, inwhich a cylinder 56a of the extruder is connectedwith one unit of tubeheads 56b corresponding with four forms of the working stations. Thesetube heads 56b project downwardly from the extruder arm and are in theirworking position exactly above one of the molding units of the workingstations 52, 53, 54 or 55. In addition tothe tube heads, this arm hasalso a known tube severing device 570 the mechanically movable severingband .of which severs in a known manner the tube sections received fromthe forms of the working stations from the remaining tube.

V The second arm 58 forms the filling arm in which the feeding conduitsfor the filling material is provided and-v the pumping station of whichsits likewise on the rotary carrier. A unit of stretchingandfilling-mandrels 61 projects from this filling arm, which mandrels. aremounted coaxially into each other. The filling mandrels are moved outfor a short time period into its working position for the fillingprocess, in which the points of the filling mandrels are disposedtightly above the bottom of the synthetic tube stretched by thestretchingmandrel.

The third arm 59 constitutes the blow arm, in which a unit of blowcylinders 62 with molding plunges and their feeding conduits isprovided'With these .blow cylinders and molding plunges are moldedtheupper tube sections, still disposed in their own heat, after the Thearms 57, 58, 59 and 60 of the rotary carrier 51,

rotating during the working cycle in a rotary direction, rest for shorttime periods above each of the four working'stations 52, 53, 54 and 55in an exactly measured working position to the molds of these workingstations, so that in each of thefour working stations 52, 53, 54 and 55a continued working procedure is assured. i

The filled and sealed containers 64 fall after opening of the molds ofthe working stations 52, 53, 54 and 55 into receiving buckets 65 of aconveyer band 66, which passes the zones of the working stations (FIGS.2 and 3). As shown in FIG. 8, the receiving buckets 65 are formedin'cup-shape and are disposed on the conveyer band such, that they passthe zones of the working sta- 'tions in an inclined position with theside open pointing towards the molding units. The conveyer band 66 isdriven intermittently, as shown in FIGS. 4-7, with drive pistons 68which are moved in a pressure cylinder 67 and electromotoricallyoperable, the movement stroke of the drive pistons 68 being capable oflimitation by means of limit switches settable in their position. Adriver 69 is pivotally connected with the drive pistons 68, which driver69, as shown in FIG. 4, grips with a claw behind a member of theconveyer band 66. Upon I movement of the drive pistons 68 in thedirection of the arrow, shown in FIG. 4, the driver 69 joins the theconveyer band 66 up to the .position shown in FIG. 5. FIGS.

6 and 7 disclose the return motion, whereby the driver 69slides outsideof the conveyer band 66, due to the provision of a spring guide, whichisknown, and is not shown for this reason. Only upon reaching the positionof FIG. 7 of the drawings, the driver 69 grips again behind a member ofthe conveyer band 66. During each of these movements the conveyerband'66 is advanced for the stroke, which is required by. the receptionof the containers removed from the fourworking stations.

As is particularly clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, at one point, a knownexit band 70 with a guide joins the conveyer band 66, on which exit band70, the filled containers 64 are fed from the conveyer band 66 passingthe working stations to a packing station. Directly in front of theconnecting point of this exit band 70 are'provided, as shown-in FIG. 8,a drive apparatus 71 and 72 each, above and below the conveyer band 66,with a fast rotating abutment wing 73 and 74, which wings serve thecutting of container-projections 64a, which have been formed after thesealing of the containers from the end-sections of 'the tube.

While I have disclosed one of the present invention,

it is to be understood that this embodiment is given by example only andnot in a limiting sense.

Iclaim:

1. An apparatus for the automatic continuous production of filled andsealed containers formed by hollow bodies of thermoplastic materialinserted in a mold in moldable condition, which bodies are expanded bythe pressure filling method and filled, thereafter sealed and removedfrom the mold, comprismg at least one tube extruder rotatable about avertical I axis,

a plurality of stationary working stations, each with molding units,anddisposed about thevertical axis of said tube extruder,

a rotary carrier rotatably mounted about its vertical axis and includinga plurality of arms set off relative to each other and projecting beyondsaid working stations, and a extruding and severing, expanding andfilling, container sealing, and container removing devices and partsthereof, respectively,

the first of said arms' receiving said extruding and section severingdevices and parts thereof, respectively, in the direction of rotation ofsaid arms,

the second of said arms receiving said expanding and filling devices andparts thereof, respectively,

the third of said arms receiving said container sealing devices andparts thereof, and

the fourth of said arms receiving said container removing devicesandparts thereof for removing of said container.

3. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein mass-forming elementsincluding a guide unit of said tube extruder are disposed on said rotarycarrier symmetrically to the rotary axis of the latter and in arelatively steep position.

4. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said workingstations, as well as said arms have a plurality of molding-, filling-andsealing units disposed in radial direction towards the rotary axis ofsaid rotary carrier.

5. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, which includes a conveyerband passing zones of said working stations and equipped with buckets ofany shape for receiving and removing said filled and sealedcontainer-projecting jut out from said buckets. 6. The apparatus, assetforth in claim 5, which includes a drive piston, operableelectromotorically and moved in a pressure cylinder, drivenintermittently, and limit switches settable as to their position anddisposed within the path of said drive piston and limiting the movementstroke of the latter. 7. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, whichincludes at least two fast rotating abutment wings disposed above andbelow said conveyer band in the removal path of said filled and sealedcontainers for cutting off container-projections.

8. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 5, which includes a guide withconnected exit band, and said guide is coordinated to said conveyerband.

1. An apparatus for the automatic continuous production of filled andsealed containers formed by hollow bodies of thermoplastic materialinserted in a mold in moldable condition, which bodies are expanded bythe pressure filling method and filled, thereafter sealed and removedfrom the mold, comprising at least one tube extruder rotatable about avertical axis, a plurality of stationary working stations, each withmolding units, and disposed about the vertical axis of said tubeextruder, a rotary carrier rotatably mounted about its vertical axis andincluding a plurality of arms set off relative to each other andprojecting beyond said working stations, and extruding and severing,expanding and filling, container sealing, and container removing devicesand parts thereof, respectively, operatively connected with said moldingunits, in accordance with a working cycle, and being disposed in saidarms.
 2. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said rotarycarrier having four of said arms set off relative to each other at equalangles, the first of said arms receiving said extruding and sectionsevering devices and parts thereof, respectively, in the direction ofrotation of said arms, the second of said arms receiving said expandingand filling devices and parts thereof, respectively, the third of saidarms receiving said container sealing devices and parts thereof, and thefourth of said arms receiving said container removing devices and partsthereof for removing of said container.
 3. The apparatus, as set forthin claim 1, wherein mass-forming elements including a guide unit of saidtube extruder are disposed on said rotary carrier symmetrically to therotary axis of the latter and in a relatively steep position.
 4. Theapparatus, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said working stations, aswell as said arms have a plurality of molding-, filling-and sealingunits disposed in radial direction towards the rotary axis of saidrotary carrier.
 5. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, whichincludes a cOnveyer band passing zones of said working stations andequipped with buckets of any shape for receiving and removing saidfilled and sealed container-projecting jut out from said buckets.
 6. Theapparatus, as set forth in claim 5, which includes a drive piston,operable electromotorically and moved in a pressure cylinder, drivenintermittently, and limit switches settable as to their position anddisposed within the path of said drive piston and limiting the movementstroke of the latter.
 7. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, whichincludes at least two fast rotating abutment wings disposed above andbelow said conveyer band in the removal path of said filled and sealedcontainers for cutting off container-projections.
 8. The apparatus, asset forth in claim 5, which includes a guide with connected exit band,and said guide is coordinated to said conveyer band.